The Day It Snowed Tortillas / El Día Que Nevó Tortillas

A collection of classic tales from New Mexico, including "Pedro and Diablo," "La Hormiguita," "La Llorona," and "Juan Camisâon," in both Spanish and English.

Readers of all ages will delight in these magical tales. In the title story, for instance, a very clever woman saves her silly husband from a band of robbers. She makes the old man believe it snowed tortillas during the night! In another story, a young boy gladly gives up all of his wages for good advice. His parents think he is a fool, but the good advice leads to wealth and a royal marriage. The enchantment continues in story after story: a clever thief tricks a king for his kingdom and a prince finds his beloved in a houseful of wicked stepsisters.

Joe Hayes is one of America’s premier storytellers, a nationally recognized teller of tales from the Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America’s storytellers.

Joe grew up in a small town in southern Arizona. His schoolmates and friends, many of whom were Mexican-American, taught him how to speak Spanish. As Joe got older, he began reading the work of folklorists and anthropologists and gathering the old stories from the region that he calls home, the Southwestern United States. When his own children were young, Joe enjoyed telling them stories. He decided that this would be the way he would earn a living. He also decided to use both Spanish and English when telling his stories to children so that they could learn and love both languages, just like he did when he was a child.

Joe’s tales are a combination of the traditional lore of the American Southwest and his own imagination. The traditional part is based on things people have told him and on what he has learned from reading the work of folklorists and anthropologists. Joe’s own contribution is based on his instincts as a storyteller and what his experience tells him listeners need in order to feel satisfied with a story.

Antonio Castro Lopez was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and has lived in the Juarez-El Paso area for most of his life. He has illustrated dozens of childrens’ books including Barry, the Bravest Saint Bernard (Random House), Pajaro Verde, The Treasure on Gold Street, The Day It Snowed Tortillas, The Gum-Chewing Rattler, and most recently, My Pet Rattlesnake, his fourth collaboration with renowned storyteller Joe Hayes.

In 2005, the government of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, commissioned Antonio to paint a mural for the government palace. The mural commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Tomochic. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Texas, Mexico City, Oaxaca, Spain and Italy

"A master storyteller sets down 10 tales told in New Mexico. ..... The stories are well told, rhythmic, and spellbinding, both in English and in the colloquial Spanish. Hayes is a fine translator, and these stories are a testament to his expert execution of this exacting art"..School Library Journal

Bloomsbury Review listed the original The Day It Snowed Tortillas as one of their 15 all-time favorite children’s books.

"Joe Hayes’ “The Day It Snowed Tortillas” or El Dia Que Nevaron Tortillas, a bilingual collection of folktales, is full of magical twists and turns that are just as entertaining to grownups as to the intended audience: children. Like the word tortilla, these folktales with their colorful characters and magical settings maintain a charm that transcends all language barriers." San Antonio Express-News